


In Our Memories

by AllTheLokisWelcome7



Series: What May Be In KH3 [3]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: A Fresh Start, Flirting, Fluff and Humor, Forgiveness, Hurt and comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Loneliness, M/M, Memories, kh3 predictions, old flame, painful reunions, suggestive undertones
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-10-12 09:19:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17464754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllTheLokisWelcome7/pseuds/AllTheLokisWelcome7
Summary: Exhausted from training, Lea's legs take him to a familiar haunt. He considers leaving when footsteps interrupt his thoughts, but does he follow through with this idea?





	In Our Memories

It had been quite some time since Lea had last come up here. Most days, he couldn't face the pain of his memories. Yet he had trained so hard today that he stopped paying attention to his surroundings, the familiar exhausted aches leading him through an equally familiar schedule. Without anyone to share the moment with, he leaned against the wall, one foot pressed against it. Loneliness and loss began to set in as he gazed out at the orange sky, and he yearned for a friend to join him, the ice blocks forgotten in his hands. Not long afterwards, confident footsteps echoed steadily along the side of the clock tower. Lea briefly considered hiding, figuring it was one of the kids, but he turned to face the newcomer. When he did, his jaw dropped and his eyes went wide, breath stuttering.

Every half-formed word caught in his throat, and clearing it only made the lump there hurt more. He tried again for the sake of the man in front of him, who had been his only friend thirteen years ago, his dearest the day they met the boy with a key, and his saddest three years ago, when he had all but abandoned him for the illusion of light. Xemnas had been driving them apart for the better part of ten years, they understood, but Axel had broken the part that remained intact the moment he had answered Saïx's question sharply.

 

“ _Which would you rather suffer the loss of...” Saïx muttered lowly, his final inquiry if Axel did not choose his words well. “Some make-believe friendship, or a real one?”_

“ _They're more real with me than you have been for a decade!”_

 

The hurt that had been in Saïx's eyes then resurfaced here, insecure now. Those words had sounded final, so long ago. Isa looked apologetic and awkward, in his own quiet way. He now hesitated at the corner, hand on the hot stone, eyes flicking to Lea's just as rapidly as elsewhere. _Unsure if he was still welcome in Lea's space._

“Isa.” Lea shuddered, voice strained and high. Gulping dissipated the painful memories somewhat, but one that hurt him just as much for its sweetness resurfaced.

 

_After being literally thrown out of the castle in Radiant Garden, they had dusted themselves off and ignored their scrapes, Lea growling expletives while Isa brooded quietly. Angrily, Lea had turned to the empty doorway, gestures exaggerated as he shouted._

“ _Oh yeah?! Well, it would've been_ boring _there anyway!”_

“ _That's enough, Lea.”_

“ _Well, we'll get in one day,” his friend brightened, rubbing his nose. “I'll make sure you grow successful, you know!”_

“ _And here I thought associating with rabble like you would only hurt my chances,” Isa smirked, also back to his old self._

“ _Whatever. C'mon, let's go get some ice cream. My treat.”_

_They had made their way to Scrooge's shop, Lea tossing a few munny into the space above his hand while he waited for their orders to be ready. Once he'd paid, he grabbed the sticks gleefully, handing one to Isa before taking a bite of his own. Knowing deep within their hearts that they would try again until they succeeded one day, they raised their heads to the sky._

 

He hadn't cried for so long before these last few years. So much had changed, but they had always been able to cry in front of each other before. And by the look on Isa's face, as lost and nervous as he felt, Lea was confident that this much had stayed the same.

A sob tore from his throat, jarring his body painfully. He only opened his arms wide, allowing the hot tears to roll freely down his cheeks. Isa shakily crossed the paved stone terrace, crushing the air from Lea's lungs with the force of his tight hug. He lowered his forehead to his shoulder, nails digging into his back through the thick leather. They shook together, silent for countless moments.

 

“No amount of 'sorry' can fix what I did to us, but I want to apologise anyway...” Lea eventually broke the silence.

“I... I know.” Isa's voice, still rough from thirteen years of being tainted by darkness, was raspy. He pulled away carefully, almost hesitantly, taking a step back along with a breath. “We should... That is, your ice cream is melting.”

Lea turned to look at his hands, eyebrows shooting up as he processed his words. “Oh! Thanks. Uh...” Looking to his old friend for acknowledgement, he held one out to him awkwardly. “I promise I haven't touched that one. Or the other one, for that matter.”

Face pulling into what could be either a grimace or a smile, Isa accepted the stick, sitting down in the middle of the clock tower's edge before taking a bite. His shoulders sagged minutely as he stared straight ahead, eyes almost brown in the orange light that rivalled them. Lea sat down in his usual spot, at his side. Pulse racing, he tried not to think about Isa taking Roxas' place. It continued plaguing his mind however, some horrid feeling reminding him that Roxas had replaced Isa first. This was what was right, at his truest friend's side once more, and yet he couldn't convince himself of it.

“Your ice cream continues to melt,” Isa murmured, turning to look at him. “I know that we haven't been very open lately, but what's wrong?”

“I just... I guess I wish that you and Roxas got along. Had you not been so serious, I...” Lea trailed off. What would he have done? Asked him to join them? Knowing his luck, Roxas' vision of falling would have become a reality.

“...I am sorry that I did not try harder.”

“Nah, it's okay, I get it. You were lonely, right? I mean, I started spending all of my time with the guy who we'd known for _one_ day eleven years prior. And I... Didn't care enough to think about how it would affect you. Again, I'm sorry.”

“Well,” Isa said, getting to his feet. A smirk tugged at his lips, hands on his hips as he stared down at him in challenge. For a moment in Lea's mind, his image flickered, matching the face of his youth. “You can prove how sorry you are by kissing my boots.”

Lea burst out laughing, the hardest he had since getting his heart back. He finally ate his ice cream quickly, smirking up at his oldest friend. “You know, whatever that does for you, it can't be as good as kissing the rest of you.”

The noise that tore from Isa's throat sounded like a cough or a growl, but Lea could tell from the way his hair fell between them to shield his eyes that he was laughing.

_How long has it been? Have you laughed at all, since I've been distant?_

“We aren't teenagers anymore, Lea. There are no raging hormones and lonely nights here. It's unnecessary.”

The light in his golden eyes belied the scolding tone of his words, as did what could almost count as a smile.

“True, it might not be the same, but we still have feelings, right? I know it's been awhile, but it's not like we've stopped caring about each other completely. Besides, firsts always hold a special place in the heart. Even yours, as grumpy as it is.”

Both chests heaved with laughter this time, pure and unrestrained.

“I want to make you happy again. You've been so long without knowing joy, that you've more than earned it.”

“Lea... Almost thirty years you've been alive and you're _still_ a loser.”

“Well, you know,” Lea snickered, eyes dancing with mischief. “It takes one to know one.”

“Maybe,” Isa grinned. “Or maybe you're just fooling yourself.”

Lea got to his feet, shoving the cleaned stick back into the plastic bag as he stepped back onto the relative safety of the roof. Isa followed him up, dusting himself off and handing Lea his _winner_ stick.

“There, your life-long dream fulfilled. You can thank me later.”

Lea glowed up at him, delight vibrant and fierce. He took his old friend's hand, briefly glancing up at him to ensure that it was alright. Once he received the silent confirmation, he smirked. “I'd rather thank you now, really.” With that, he kissed his knuckles through the glove, waiting for a reaction.

If he was being honest with himself, he expected a punch: he knew that Isa had never been fond of the hand thing. Instead, he found the gesture being returned, Isa's fingers curling around his own. The lips against his knuckles formed a small smile, a long-forgotten gentleness reserved just for him.

Lea shivered, ecstatic. For everything he wanted to say, he could find no words. In the end, he decided on just the one, the way it left him so telling of everything he didn't know how to say. His friend would know exactly what he meant anyway, he knew. So, with a smile on his lips and his eyes barely open, he whispered it with everything left in his heart.

“Isa.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Lea's reaction is from the same trailer as Chapter 1 of Redefining Ourselves, and I've shamelessly merged the points at 3:14 and 3:18. If you haven't or don't want to read it, the source is here: 'KINGDOM HEARTS III - TGS Big Hero 6 Trailer | PS4' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6plE_PqzR4


End file.
